A snapshot of emotional harms caused by the litigation process – Qualitative data from Ghana

Abstract

Background

Very few studies have investigated the effect of the process of litigation on the mental health of litigants. In Ghana, not much is known about the stress that litigants encounter and how they cope during the process of litigation.

Methods

This study used a mixed-method sequential explanatory design to explore the stressors people litigating as individuals encounter in Ghana and how they cope in the process of litigation. As the second phase following the quantitative stage, interviews were conducted with seventeen (male = 13, female = 4) litigants (defendants = 4, plaintiffs = 13) who were selected (using criterion sampling) from the Law Court Complex in Accra, Ghana. Their average age and the average duration of the case was 50.13 (SD = 12.55), and 26.7 months respectively.

Results and discussion

To explain the results found in the quantitative phase, three themes with subthemes were extracted from the data set: challenges in the court process, emotional consequences of the litigation process, and coping mechanisms. The frequent adjournments of cases, delays on court days, deliberate dragging of cases, financial strain, and opportunity cost, were the challenges encountered by litigants in the court process. These led to emotional outcomes such as stress, overstraining, sleepless nights, numbness, and the acceptance of court proceedings as part of life. To help them cope with these emotional outcomes, litigants looked for a light at the end of the tunnel and reliance on their faith. The stressful nature of the court process and how litigants cope with the process of litigation is discussed. Consequently, we recommend that people be educated about Bar etiquette and court procedures. Additionally, we suggest that lawyers should provide some form of scientifically-derived estimation of how long a case might last. It is also recommended that law firms consider providing counselling sessions for their clients.